Morning in the 'Verse
by Rosepixie
Summary: A series of very short stories about characters from Firefly in the morning. There is very little plot, but it is safe to assume that the stories all take place on the same morning, so small connections may become evident. I have no current plans to expand any of these into longer stories, but may continue to add more of them over time.
1. Inara

Inara stretched her arms up over her head and sighed. As irritated as she had been lately that Serenity hadn't visited any planets where she could find clients, sometimes it was nice to wake up in her own bed alone and with no responsibilities for the day. Mal had said that it would be another day at least before they made it back to Persephone, so she had the day to simply relax.

Getting up and drawing a shallow basin of warm water, Inara set out to pamper herself just a little. She mixed jasmine essential oil into the water and breathed in the sweet smell. It was a luxury that she generally reserved for when she had a special client, but today she felt like indulging herself. She sank into the plush, low seat and slipped her bare feet into the basin of warm, soothing water.

For a few minutes she simply sat with her eyes closed letting the sweet-smelling water soak her feet. She almost purred at the warmth that worked its way up her body, cocooning her legs in soothing comfort. Stretching down, she began to gently massage her left foot with a soft cloth she had dipped into the warm water. It felt so relaxing. She wondered why she didn't treat herself like this more often!

A harsh rasp snapped Inara out of her reverie as the shuttle door slid open with a loud crash. The captain poked his head into the room.

"'Nara, Kaylee said to tell you that River made you breakfast in the mess …"

Mal sort of trailed off and swallowed audibly, his eyes wide at the scene before him.

"I'm fairly certain that I told you to knock," Inara snapped, tossing the cloth back into the water in irritation.

Mal nodded, but seemed unable to say anything. His eyes never left her.

"Tell Kaylee and River that I will be up in a minute," Inara said in a slightly calmer voice. Her glare was no less harsh, but Mal hardly seemed to notice. "Now go away so that I can change."

Mal backed away, closing the shuttle door carefully, his eyes staying on her until the door blocked his view. Inara sighed. So much for her relaxing day.


	2. River

Special day. Inara had forgotten, but that didn't mean that it shouldn't be celebrated. Simon always celebrated with food. Every holiday and celebration involved food. It's traditional. Cakes for birthdays, cookies for Christmas, amg cha for Vesak, matzo for Passover. Everything is celebrated with food.

What food for Inara's day?

River made her way up to the mess to investigate her options. Simon like chocolate for his birthday, but they never had any real chocolate on the ship. Kaylee liked strawberries, but she had eaten the last of the small stash she'd had in the engine room. Wash had gotten oysters for Zoe for their anniversary, but those hadn't lasted long. And they hadn't been willing to share.

The mess was blessedly empty when River got there. Good. It's easier to work in the quiet. No confusing thoughts or feelings pinging around the room like pinballs. She stood on her tip toes and started by reaching for the secret stash of spices the Shepherd had kept hidden in the corner cupboard.

River pulled small jars out of the box one by one, carefully opening each one and sniffing it before discarding it. She needed the one that was Inara. Where was it? She wished she knew its name, but all she had was the smell. It was frustrating! With a bang, River slammed the box down onto the counter. Now that it was half-empty, several of the jars inside tipped over.

A rich, red spice spilled out of one of the tiny jars and a sweetly spicy scent reached River's nose. She smiled. That was it! The smell that Inara remembered when she thought about celebrations. Just right.

River eagerly snatched up the jar of red spice and twirled across the galley to get the rest of the ingredients she needed. They didn't have things she wished they had, but she could make do, like Kaylee had with the birthday cake for Simon. This would be good! Inara would be happy on her special day!


	3. Kaylee

Kaylee was swaying gently in the hammock she had hung in the corner of the engine room. She'd been up fixing the nav thrusters pretty late last night and had wanted to stay close in case any other problems cropped up, so she had slept here, next to Serenity's spinning engine. The ship was quiet beyond the normal mechanical sounds that told Kaylee that all was well.

She kicked her legs a little to get the hammock to sway to a position where it was easier for her to slip out of it. In a box under the hammock she found a mostly clean shirt. The one she was wearing had gotten badly smeared with engine grease as she had worked last night, so she shimmied out of it and pulled the fresh one on over her head. The patches of engine grease had stiffened overnight and grown uncomfortable, but the new shirt was much better.

Kaylee stuffed the greasy shirt into the box and pushed the whole thing back into the corner under the hammock. She turned to head back to her bunk. She could finish cleaning up there and then pop back to the mess for some breakfast. There should still be some canned peaches.

As she made her way through the ship's corridors, she suddenly heard a banging noise from the mess. She wasn't sure what it was, but random banging wasn't usually a good thing around here.

Kaylee ran into the mess only to find it seemingly empty. A paper-wrapped brick of protein paste fell out of one of the upper cabinets behind the galley counter. Before Kaylee could wonder why every single cabinet in the galley was standing open, she was started by a voice.

"Ah ha! There's the last one!"

River's head popped up from behind the counter as the girl jumped up to add the recently fallen brick to a pile of foodstuff and cooking supplies she had made on the counter.

"River?" Kaylee asked as she poked her head into the galley area. "Whatcha doin'?"

Nearly every single thing from the cupboards was scattered haphazardly on the floor around River's feet.

"Making a celebration!" River answered brightly as she began to sort through her pile of supplies.

Kaylee couldn't help but laugh. She wasn't sure what River was doing exactly, but she decided to stick around and find out. And maybe clean up some of the mess before it got any worse (or the captain saw it).


	4. Simon

Simon yawned and stretched the little bit that he could in his cramped bunk and blinked blearily into the dim room. Vaguely, he wondered what time it was. Normally he woke up to his alarm, so it must be too early yet.

The alarm clock rested on a shelf near his head. He pushed himself up onto one elbow and twisted around to look at the clock. He stared at the little silver device for a moment, not awake enough to be sure what was wrong with what he was seeing. The clock had been a gift from his mother a few years ago, one of the few things that he still had from before he and River had escaped. It was a nice clock, but nothing terribly special.

This morning, the little alarm sat where it always did, but the display was dark. He sat up and took the clock off the shelf. A quick examination revealed that the device had been turned off somehow. He knew that he hadn't done it, so River was the most likely responsible party. With a sigh, he decided to go find out why she turned off his alarm clock.

Simon yawned as he staggered out of his tiny room and down the hallway towards the infirmary. River wouldn't be found there, but at least he could find out what time it was.

He was surprised to find that the infirmary was occupied. Kaylee was digging in the supply closet while Shepherd Book leaned against the exam table waiting.

"What's going on?" Simon demanded, suddenly wide awake.

"Everything's fine, Simon," Kaylee threw back over her shoulder. "We just need a cold pack."

"A minor accident," Book added as he touched a spot high on the side of his head.

Simon was fully into doctor mode now. He strode across the small room and reached around Kaylee for the box of instant cold packs. Then he grabbed a pen light off the counter and turned to face the Shepherd.

"Tell me what happened."


	5. Jayne

Jayne was not a morning person. If there was something worth getting up for, then he would do it. Unless there was money or women to be had for the trouble, though, Jayne slept in late.

By the time he had rolled out of bed, there was quite a disaster in the mess. It looked like a twister had blown through - everything from the little galley was dumped out on the floor and something that looked like horse vomit was dished out on the large table. Inara, River, and Mal were sitting around it eating the horse vomit.

"'Morning, Jayne," greeted Mal between bites.

"Breakfast?" asked River brightly, offering a bowl of whatever that crap was.

"Think again, girl," Jayne replied with a snort. He stooped to pick up a protein bar that was among the mess on the floor.

"Jayne," Mal said with a slight note of irritation in his voice.

"I ain't puttin' that crap in my mouth, Cap'n," Jayne called back as he strode out of the mess. Best to leave before Mal decided to start lecturing about some fool thing or River got all strange again.

Jayne made his way down to the main cargo area of the ship. Tucked back by the wall was a lifting bench and weights. Jayne threw himself onto the bench and unwrapped the protein bar. He wondered if the Shepherd was around to do some lifting with him. Even without Book, though, Jayne planned to work out. If nothing else, people tended to leave him alone when it was at it, so it should let him avoid River's crazy and Mal's lectures. That made it a good place to spend the morning.


	6. Zoe

Zoe stretched languidly in her bed wondering why it felt so spacious this morning. Opening her eyes fully, she sat up and looked around the small cabin. Wash wasn't there. His absence explained the emptiness next to her on the bed, but it was something of a mystery in and of itself. He husband was far from what could ever be called a "morning person" and was almost never out of bed before she was in the morning. So where had he gone?

In puzzlement, Zoe swing her long legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She quickly dug out a practical outfit, complete with a leather vest and boots, and got dressed. Something must be going on if Wash was already up and Zoe felt it best to be prepared. One never knew the trouble this ship would get into.

Once dressed, she grabbed her gun belt and swing it around her hips. It was wise to be ready for anything on _Serenity_, although she hoped that if anything was really wrong Mal would have had someone wake her up. Besides, they had been in the middle of nowhere space when she fell asleep. Of course, they'd gotten into trouble on the far edges of the 'verse before …

Zoe climbed the ladder and pushed open the hatch, letting herself out into the corridor. She could hear voices from the mess, but turned away from it to check the cockpit first.

Sure enough, Wash was at the pilot's station leaning back in his chair and watching the stars. There were no unusual alarms or beeps from the console, so Zoe felt safe assuming that there was no current threat to the ship. She slipped up behind her husband and gently began to knead the muscles in his shoulders.

"Morning," she said quietly into his ear.

With a smile, Wash looked up at her. The sight made a warmth spread in her chest. Only he smiled at her like that. It was his smile that had made her first think of him as more than a pilot Mal had hired and it was his smile that still lit a fire deep inside her every time she saw it. She hoped very much that someday, years from now, when they were both old and gray, he would still be smiling at her like that and turning her knees to jelly.

Forgetting entirely to wonder why he was awake at all, she leaned down and kissed him deeply.


End file.
